blazing

This is what I am going to look like as I go in to my final two exams. Fierce.

speaking of elephants

British Graffiti artist Banksy just opened his show 'Barely Legal' at the beginning of this week with a live elephant painted to look like wallpaper.

Here are pictures from my second trip to Paris.

And here is another London elephant. This one is behind Parliament.

reading tea leaves...

...at Bea's yesterday revealed a distinctive U.S. map, complete with Florida, Maine, and Hawaii conspicuously present. One week left in London!

Volcano: 2, Melissa: 0

There was no Dublin for us, but I really can't complain. The Eurostar got us home from Paris for a price just above normal and since it was an extra train under the circumstances and they were using all cars available we ended up in first class. We had several hours to kill in the rain and are now intimately acquainted with the Gare du Nord, but we made it home in time for dinner.

We came in to St. Pancras where this dandelion elephant is currently making its home. This one is dedicated to M.E.M.



I will post some pictures from Paris soon.

pow!

This is another one from Trafalgar Square. He is both happy and fierce - just think of the message you could send with this guy by your front door.

Today we're headed to Paris!

snazzy elephant

These guys are hanging out in a group of three right by Trafalgar Square. Ryan took the picture while he was wandering around waiting for me to finish my first final exam. They are definitely growing on me - I knew I would like them as public art, but I'm warming to the idea of them as auctioned art. They are scattered in small, colorful groups and it's like an Easter egg hunt any time I walk around the city.

elephants

From 3 May to 4 July two-hundred painted elephants, roughly 140 pounds each, will storm the city. Eventually they will be corralled into Sotheby's for an auction to raise money for an endangered species of Asian elephant. Most sources are claiming that this will be London's biggest public art event on record. I love public art, but when the end of the line is an auction I have a hard time accepting it as art for art's sake. I do expect that these guys are going to brighten up the city, and of course they are a whimsical installation - but that doesn't change the fact that their priority, besides raising awareness, is making money. I like to at least believe that artists create objects for reasons other than economics...